University of California Berkeley

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a major driver of shifts in the Earth’s climate, and in the past too little CO2 has been associated with triggering ice ages. Now a team of scientists has found a surprising new mechanism that could lead to ice ages: Tropical tectonic activity.

​Most 3D printers work by either depositing or melting building material in successive layers. Unfortunately, this results in the finished objects looking kind of chunky, as the ridges between layers are visible. A new process, however, uses light to create smooth-edged items out of resin.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have now developed “spacesuits” that wrap around bacteria to not only protect them from the elements, but turn them into biohybrids that capture carbon dioxide and turn it into useful chemicals.

Think about all the things you picked up today. Now think about how much mental energy you put into each of those activities. Very little, right? For robots though, picking up a variety of shapes poses a significant challenge – one that's gotten easier thanks to work carried out at UC Berkeley.

Scientists have identified a Type Ia supernova behind a galaxy two billion light years away that is acting like a gigantic magnifying glass. This is the first such supernova to be seen by gravitational lensing and could give a better understanding of how the universe is expanding.

​You might not realize it, but you blink about 15 to 20 times a minute. When you do so, you eye rolls back in its socket. So why don't we feel plunged into darkness and get disoriented 21,000 times a day? Researchers have puzzled it out.

A breakthrough manufacturing method, using a technique known as nanoimprint lithography, has been devised that creates high-performance transistors with wireless capabilities on rolls of common, flexible plastic.

When it comes to the price of most products, US$40,000 is pretty high. In the case of powered exoskeletons, however, it's cheap. Nonetheless, that's approximately what suitX's Phoenix modular exoskeleton should sell for.

Researchers from the UC Berkeley's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab have successfully demonstrated a cooperative launching system that puts a lightweight ornithopter on the back of its VelociRoACH robotic carpet crawler for a short run before the H2Bird takes to the air.